High school, a turning in point in so many people’s lives. It certainly was in mine. High school gave me the chance to grow and mature as a person. I found my passion and my possible future through the experiences I had. There were dark times and times that still shine in my memory. Through it all I knew that it was all worthwhile to get to where I am today.
Those four years shaped me in more ways than one. Each year I challenged myself academically, whether it was through high level classes or through teachers that pushed me to succeed. I was always that straight A student and I had to be in the honors classes or I felt inadequate. Mentally I thought that I had to keep up my image of a ‘perfect’ student. That fell by the wayside over the years due to stress and personal issues. These were still teenage years. Plenty of time for social turmoil. Relationships and petty social issues ran rampart for the duration of my high school years. Typical, but it distracted me enough to make me slip. This blessing in disguise allowed myself to see that an A in a class was not the goal. Learning the material and making connections was the actual goal and knowing that changed how I looked at school.
My sophomore year offered me my first chance to take an advanced placement class; European history. It was a train wreck. I cannot lie about that. The teacher was horrible. Her idea of extra credit was coloring and listening to music. The only way I passed that AP test was through my own hard work, and even with that I barely scraped by with a passing score. I decided that it was worth it to try again with other AP classes. I proceeded to take AP English language and United States History my junior year. Those changed the way I looked at school forever. The teachers were incredible and had a passion for what they were teaching. Both of them pulled me in with interesting teaching styles and more class involvement. Most of my other classes could not compare. I was hooked. I proceeded to take three more AP classes my senior year. Although they were different they still had different ways to keep my interest and teach me. I personally loved my Music Theory class. I had never attempted to get into the theory of music before. I struggled with it at first but soon I was soaking all the knowledge I could. The daunting tasks of that class loomed over me, but it gave me that extra kick to make my own path and follow it. That class provided my first look into the field of study that I eventually wanted to pursue. I knew my choice of major was right because of that class.
What happened after school actually made the biggest impact on the current me. I dove straight into music when I got to high school. Before it even began I was sent off to band camp to start the season early. There I met some of my closest friends, who are still my friends today. From there I joined ensemble after ensemble. I even expanded past band into chorus. Soon I was in almost everything being offered. My auditions got me into higher level groups as early as my sophomore year and I was enveloped in all sorts of music. It was heavenly; I could barely believe how much music shaped me. I got to experience so many new things and I even got to travel. We performed at the State House, sang in Carnegie Hall and traveled all the way across the country to San Francisco to name a few places. My choir and band directors believed in me and steered me towards success. When I told them I was interested in pursuing music education as a career they both enthusiastically helped me. They saw it as a perfect fit for me, and I can honestly say I think they were right. Without them I could not be here today, making the first real steps towards my dream of teaching music.
Those four years shaped me in more ways than one. Each year I challenged myself academically, whether it was through high level classes or through teachers that pushed me to succeed. I was always that straight A student and I had to be in the honors classes or I felt inadequate. Mentally I thought that I had to keep up my image of a ‘perfect’ student. That fell by the wayside over the years due to stress and personal issues. These were still teenage years. Plenty of time for social turmoil. Relationships and petty social issues ran rampart for the duration of my high school years. Typical, but it distracted me enough to make me slip. This blessing in disguise allowed myself to see that an A in a class was not the goal. Learning the material and making connections was the actual goal and knowing that changed how I looked at school.
My sophomore year offered me my first chance to take an advanced placement class; European history. It was a train wreck. I cannot lie about that. The teacher was horrible. Her idea of extra credit was coloring and listening to music. The only way I passed that AP test was through my own hard work, and even with that I barely scraped by with a passing score. I decided that it was worth it to try again with other AP classes. I proceeded to take AP English language and United States History my junior year. Those changed the way I looked at school forever. The teachers were incredible and had a passion for what they were teaching. Both of them pulled me in with interesting teaching styles and more class involvement. Most of my other classes could not compare. I was hooked. I proceeded to take three more AP classes my senior year. Although they were different they still had different ways to keep my interest and teach me. I personally loved my Music Theory class. I had never attempted to get into the theory of music before. I struggled with it at first but soon I was soaking all the knowledge I could. The daunting tasks of that class loomed over me, but it gave me that extra kick to make my own path and follow it. That class provided my first look into the field of study that I eventually wanted to pursue. I knew my choice of major was right because of that class.
What happened after school actually made the biggest impact on the current me. I dove straight into music when I got to high school. Before it even began I was sent off to band camp to start the season early. There I met some of my closest friends, who are still my friends today. From there I joined ensemble after ensemble. I even expanded past band into chorus. Soon I was in almost everything being offered. My auditions got me into higher level groups as early as my sophomore year and I was enveloped in all sorts of music. It was heavenly; I could barely believe how much music shaped me. I got to experience so many new things and I even got to travel. We performed at the State House, sang in Carnegie Hall and traveled all the way across the country to San Francisco to name a few places. My choir and band directors believed in me and steered me towards success. When I told them I was interested in pursuing music education as a career they both enthusiastically helped me. They saw it as a perfect fit for me, and I can honestly say I think they were right. Without them I could not be here today, making the first real steps towards my dream of teaching music.